𝐖𝐞 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐊𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫
𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒.𝟓 ⭐️
This 👌🏻 this is what I NEEDED in a Thriller.

Creepy, psychological and compelling! Moments were more horror-esque though compared to a thriller as some scenes really creeped me out!!

This was one of those books where you don’t know if you believe what is happening. I love an unreliable narrator. I was 100% rooting for Eve, literally what a complete mind bending story.
Reason it’s not a 5 ⭐️ for me was because I wanted it to tie up nicely but I’m left with questions but that’s a me problem.

I didn’t realise this started out as a short story on Reddit & it’s going to be made into a film starring Blake Lively!!

100% recommend.

Thanks so much to @netgalley & @randomhouse for this eArc.

I really don’t think this was a horror. I am a hottie Dan and this felt more like a confused thriller. The plot was a bit of a let down.

I love horror books so I was so excited to read this one and it really creeped me out, it definitely kept me up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t know where to start! This was proper creepy, I had to stop reading it at night because it was getting to me. So that automatically makes it good writing. Only a good writer can actually instill fear when writing horror. That and using true psychological studies like the Capgras Syndrome. That being said, I think some parts were confusing and I was left with quite a few questions at the end of this.
I wish the main character was slightly more likeable, but when the horrors start taking place you don’t really notice it anymore. Especially that the story is so close to reality you almost feel like it’s happening to you. Or could happen very easily.
Super excited to watch the movie when it gets made, although should definitely be classed as Horror instead of Mystery and Thriller.

One of the strangest books I've read in a while! It's described as a suspense thriller but I'd say it's bordering on horror. I really enjoyed it - it kept me guessing the whole way through and I was thinking about it in between reading sessions which is always a good sign! The ARC copy had some bits in smaller font than others which I know is a small thing but it did make it a little hard to follow in places. I think the ending could have been better but overall a really good book and I'd definitely recommend to others!

My mistake when I requested and didn't realize it was a horror book. I have heard good feedback about this one but it really isn't my genre so I DNF

This is my kind of creepy! I went into this totally blind and was expecting a domestic thriller but love that it leaned towards the horror side. I normally don’t like books that have unanswered questions at the end but holy moly this one has to be a 5 star - super creepy setting and people, not sure who or what to believe and I was invested from the start. Oh…and it’s a debut?! Can’t wait to see more from this author.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

We Used To Live Here is a creepy novel about a couple who buy a remote house to flip, only to have a family turn up asking to look around as the father used to live there, and then they don't seem to want to leave. Eve and Charlie need to make their new house a success, but one day when Charlie goes out, Eve is left to deal with a father knocking on the door, asking if he can show his wife and kids around the house he grew up in. As they don't leave and the house seems to get weirder, Eve can't tell what is real, and what is just in her head.

Apparently this book originates from r/NoSleep, and you can tell the creepypasta type elements of it: a scary initial concept that happens early on, supporting documents that weave a wider story suggesting it could happen again, and, unfortunately, a lack of a satisfying narrative by the end. The narrative focuses on Eve, cutting away only to these 'found' documents that paint a picture of a mystery of an old house researched by people online, and quickly the family enters the picture. The first part, in which the family just aren't leaving, and Eve has to try and convince Charlie of her fears, is the strongest in my opinion, a genuinely gripping read that does leave you with dread. The house is set up with a House of Leaves-esque mystery and it feels like the sort of horror that goes beyond an obvious scare.

Unfortunately, as the book goes on, it loses this atmosphere, as Eve tries to work out who or what is real after Charlie disappears. The ending could've brought it back, but instead it becomes more of a psychological thriller that brushes past all the set up with the father, Thomas, and particularly with the house. It loses any focus on the supernatural elements, and whilst you could say that is meant to be to question Eve's narrative, the book otherwise doesn't suggest the narrative you read was incorrect, and in fact goes out of the way to suggest it is, so it feels like there's a lot of loose threads and the end doesn't deliver of the scares of the early part of the novel. There's quite a lot of interesting elements—religious zealotry, homophobia, lost and found children—that get lost and don't really come to anything, making them seem more like throwing in scary tropes than actually using them to build a narrative (again, which makes it feel very much like a creepypasta story rather than a crafted novel).

I really did enjoy the first part of this book, which seemed like invader horror with the House of Leaves house included, but the novel just didn't follow through on this and explore the labyrinthine house or otherworldly characters it brought in. Instead, it became a 'someone replaced everything in your life' thriller that lacked the same eerie atmosphere, and was far less interesting for me. We Used To Live Here was marketed as more of a thriller, and maybe hoping for that would make it more satisfying, but as a horror fan, it really didn't follow through on the horror for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this amazing book.
This is a beautifully crafted, intelligent and spine-tingling rollercoaster of a story that had me equal parts terrified and intrigued!

Marcus Kliewer is a fantastic writer and I'm already excited to read his future novels - of which, I hope there are many. His ability to craft this gruesome world so well that I felt immersed in it myself, is such a talent. The imagery and worldbuilding was so stunning, totally adding to the eeriness of the story. What really makes Kliewer's talent unique though, is the ability to present such full imagery whilst simultaneously giving a dry and contemporary personality to the narrator. I love this example: "The haze lingered, illuminated by a thin sheet of light beaming through the shuttered windows. Noir vibes."
Similarly, Eve and Charlie are given so much depth and personality, leaving me desperately invested in their survival of this nightmare. I particularly liked Eve's character and felt aspects of her to be very relatable. The contributions from 'Mo' were brilliant and clever, and this line was a stand-out for me in terms of relatability and dark humour: "So instead, she kept them [anxious concerns] locked up in the same room as Mo. Mo and his army of thought goblins."

The inclusion of the various 'docs'/clippings was great in adding to the suspense and mystery, despite the fact I struggled to tie a couple of them into the main plot. It was very found-footage-esque, which I loved.
I also enjoyed the supernatural element to this and the continuous mental debate throughout of whether the events were truly happening or if Eve was really just losing her mind. Either way, it was very creepy and the mental image of Alison's gnarly figure frozen into a lingering silhouette will probably haunt my dreams for the foreseeable!

I don't think I've read a novel quite like this one before. Despite the fact I do feel there are some unanswered questions - e.g. who the hell was the man in the cabin?!, how did all this manage to affect the neighbours? etc. - I feel this only adds to the disorientating nature of the plot. I really struggle to fault this so it's an easy 5-star rating for me! Even the ending, despite not being what I'd personally have wished to happen, was perfectly executed and well-paced. I can't wait to read more from Kliewer!

[Review posted on GoodReads as 'AmyReads']

I feel like the protagonist in this story because I feel like I'm going insane. This was WILD, from start to finish. There was a nervous, uneasy feeling throughout that only intensified as the book went on, I felt nauseous and freaked out reading this. There was something malicious and haunting about the writing and the dual timelines, told through internet archives and present day POV from Eve. This book has left me pacing my hotel room and reliving events in my mind, desperate for answers. Truly, a terrifying, horrific and deeply unsettling yet addictive story.

I am sorry to say that I didn't like this ,I found it too be too weird for me ,and I do read some strange books ! But I just didn't like the writing style hopefully it will be a better read for other readers.

I somehow managed to miss the fact that this was a horror and started it a few hours before bed. Not ideal! This is a really creepy read that will definitely get inside your head. Very unsettling. I never liked basements and will be avoiding them for a while!
It only took a couple of hours to read and really kept me hooked the entire way through.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc.

Well, this was terrifying, although I am sitting here smugly telling myself it could never happen to me, because I usually refuse to answer the door.

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer is the story of Eve, a young women who along with her partner Charlie, buy an old house for a curiously low price in a remote area with the intention of fixing it up and flipping it. Remote, as in with one road in and out (as we are reminded several times). Things open with an immediate weirdness- a family turns up out of nowhere one evening asking for a tour. The man used to live there, you see. and wants to show his kids around Although Eve is uneasy, she lets them in and from then on, it is one long series of crazy, scary, bizarre events. It's perhaps better going in not knowing too much, but also bearing mind that not every question is going to be answered in the end. If you are the kind of reader who like everything wrapped up in a neat conclusion, this ain't it.

I loved the pace of this- it is intensely readable and I finished it within a day. There's quite a bit of narration of what is going on in Eve's head, which could become annoying if not interspersed with regular dollops of enjoyable thrills and chills. The story does an excellent job of tapping into unconscious fears of the bumps in the night and the shadows in the basement. But uniquely it captures the feeling that many of us experience in today's overwhelming world, sort of unsettling disassociation that can make you question reality. Like spending ten minutes searching for your keys only to find that you somehow put them in the freezer. Did I turn off the lights in the living room- and if I did, why are they on again? I'm sure I put bread on the shopping list but there's none in the bags when I get home. from the store. Did I just see something moving over there out of the corner of my eye...in the dark?. Tiny incidents that we can all recognise and tell ourselves it's really nothing- just a bit of absent mindedness or a trick of the light. Kliewer's tale ramps up that sensation and uses it to great effect to explain and justify why a character like Eve would make some frankly strange choices, decisions which escalate and spiral out of control with horrifying results.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of the somewhat House of Leaves style side notes-narrative, which I think are included to give the reader of sense of the phenomenon as being more than an isolated one-off. My hope is that there is a follow up to more fully explain aspects of this, as well as to shed some light on various ambiguities in the story But as a standalone, this is a really good, fun, and riveting read. Don't be fooled by the fairly bland cover- this is some intensely scary stuff in places and it did leave me genuinely unsettled. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Random House UK for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐

Much like the main characters, I was often left wondering what on earth was going on.
A strange story that starts off so innocently.
I don't think I'm fully sure what the truth of it is even now.
The main story being broken up by other reports adds to the uneasy feeling, trying yo tie it all together.
It's creepy, and has some unexpected moments, and builds up the tension very nicely.
Personally I'm never opening the door to someone I don't know again.